West Coast artist Steven Armstrong’s latest collection of paintings explores the rugged landscapes and windy skies of Vancouver Island and offers an opportunity to investigate a deeper relationship with the natural environment.
Armstrong’s Entering the Outdoors runs Feb. 11 to 23 at West End Gallery in Victoria.
Every painting becomes an individual communication on perspective and paintings become as much about presence as they are about place. Understanding a place enough to convey its essence visually is never instantaneous. In his attempt to translate an immediate experience of place through paint on canvas, we enter a dialogue on an emotional and enduring level. Lone objects come to represent more than simply trees, rocks, earth, and sky – they suggest places that carry meaning for us as individuals, and we relate to them over the passage of time.
Learn more at westendgalleryltd.com.
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Madrona Gallery brings Nicholas Bott and Megan Dietrich into the spotlight this month.
Newly released works from Bott’s estate kick off the month with a showcase Feb. 4 to 18. This exhibition features 14 paintings from a group of early works that the artist kept for himself as reference and inspiration for other paintings throughout his career.
There is an opening reception Feb. 4 from 1 to 3 p.m.
Dietrich’s second exhibition with Madrona Gallery, The Pie, is an investigation of meaning through transformation, story, and legacy. On a literal level, the title alludes to being aware of different elements that go together to make a perfect combination.
Dietrich is a Vancouver-based artist whose expressive paintings examine relationships of line, colour, and texture through influences of modern art history, pop culture, and personal experiences of life on the west coast.
Megan Dietrich: The Pie runs Feb. 11 to 25 and features an opening reception with the artist Feb. 11 from 1 to 3 p.m. Learn more at madronagallery.com.
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In the heart of Oak Bay, The Avenue Gallery showcases the work of Brent Lynch, Corre Alice and Derek Casper this month.
Lynch is in demand to create murals and painting installations for institutions, public buildings, and private collections. Honoured with many prestigious communications and fine art awards, he was recently awarded $10,000 and the silver medal in an International Art Exhibition Aims for Art. He is a senior member of The Federation of Canadian Artists (one of 90 throughout Canada), a sought-after workshop instructor and he participates in numerous gallery, solo and group shows nationally and abroad.
Alice’s paintings often explore the relationship between the emotional and the intellectual and are an intuitive response with distinctly personal marks. “When I paint flowers, bees and trees it’s with a light heart and gratitude for this world of ours. It’s about colour and joy,” Alice said.
Kasper was first introduced to ceramics at the University of Regina in the early 1970s. Throughout his creative life, he has been fascinated with texture and shadow, and the interplay of light over surfaces that at first hide, and then reveal, meaning.
Learn more at theavenuegallery.com.
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After 10 years calling the Steamship Terminal on the Inner Harbour home, the Bateman Gallery is moving.
It will temporarily close its gallery doors in mid-February and seek a new location to accommodate future growth and sustainability of the organization, increased accessibility of its programs, and care for its extensive collections.
“Our goal is to secure a new art and nature centre that will inspire thousands of global visitors and reinforce our commitment to the community,” said Sarah Theophilus, executive director of the Bateman Foundation.
Knowing the Maritime Museum of BC has an active proposal to establish a permanent location in the Steamship Terminal, the foundation reached out to collaborate on a transition of space that would enable both organizations to achieve their strategic goals.
“We approached the Maritime Museum of BC to discuss an opportunity to gain the space in the Steamship Terminal with the potential agreement that we create a temporary gallery space in their location,” Theophilus said.
Working with the Maritime Museum of BC, the City of Victoria, and the Ministry of Transportation, the Bateman Foundation looks to create a temporary gallery in the Maritime Museum’s current location at 744 Douglas St.
The Bateman Gallery will end exhibitions The World of Robert Bateman and Robert Bateman: Heart & Home, in mid-February. Education and NatureSketch programs will continue in partnership with other organizations.
Learn more at batemanfoundation.org and mmbc.bc.ca.
Regan Rasmussen presents “safety within” at Xchanges Gallery Feb. 4 to 19.
When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Rasmussen turned inward to process the overwhelming situation.
As she worked in solitude in the studio she contemplated questions on dealing with physical and spiritual adversity, and how community collectively supports each member. “It’s been said that adversity introduces us to ourselves,” Rasmussen said.
There is an opening reception Feb. 3 from 5 to 7 p.m. and an artists talk Feb. 19 at 2:30 p.m.
Learn more at artopenings.ca/regan-rasmussen.